Marlins tease Qualls about fist-pump fall

MIAMI The placard cautioning pedestrians about a wet floor in front of Chad Qualls' locker Tuesday night was insufficient.

His Miami Marlins' teammates had more in store Wednesday, a day after Qualls fist-pumped himself into a tumble after striking out Omar Quintanilla to end the eighth.

"I rolled my ankle four or five pitches before that," said Qualls, who got about 50 texts Tuesday night from ex-teammates, friends and family. "Once I got the strikeout I was pretty excited…I play this game with a lot of passion. I probably went for too big of a fist pump there and my ankle fully rolled, and 245 pounds you can't really stay up.

"I tucked and rolled and popped up and in my head pretended nothing happened. By the time I got to the dugout I was like, 'Man, that just really happened.'"

Wednesday afternoon, fellow pitchers Steve Cishek and Tom Koehler set up a mannequin in the stands with a bat taped to the shoulder simulating a sniper. They also cordoned off the area where Qualls hit the deck and placed his uniform on the grass in the middle of orange cones and yellow tape like a crime scene.

Just before the club's pregame stretch, the play came on the scoreboard to Tom Petty's "Free Falling" and "The Blue Danube Waltz."

"The sniper in the second deck was a good touch," Qualls said. "I figured something would be coming."…

Pending a physical, the Marlins have agreed to sell left-hander Duane Below to the Kia Tigers of the Korean Baseball Organization. Below, who the Marlins acquired off waivers from the Detroit Tigers earlier this season, was pitching for Triple-A New Orleans.